Euronews.com here reports that coal is expanding rapidly as again more than fifty large coal-fired power plant units were connected to the grid worldwide.

Coal power plants rapidly came on online worldwide. Symbol image, created by Grok AI

China is showing less concern for CO2’s possible impact on the climate and went ahead and commissioned significantly more coal-fired power plants than in previous years.

“China added a total of 78 gigawatts of new coal-fired power capacity last year – a significant jump compared to previous years,” reports Euronews, citing a joint report by the Centre for Research on Energy and the Clean Air and Global Energy Monitor.

 So what was behind the coal power boom last year?

Apparently China got frsutrated by blackouts in 2021 and 2022 and thus moved to build reliable coal-fired power plants. Obviously the massive quantity of installed wind and sun capacity failed to keep the lights on constantly and reliably. The 78 added gigawatts are equivalent to Germany’s total demand for power.

But that still won’t be enough. The report says the construction of a further 83 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity also began last year.

While Europe shuts down, China and the rest of the world are expanding their coal-fired power generation rapidly.